I'm interested in what everyone thinks of ths signature. I have a British Edition of the Sil signed very much like this one. I picked it up quite cheaply, gut I was unsre of the signature. Your thoughts?

No seriously, provenance (from private correspondence with seller) is good. They are going to (altho' obviously haven't seen anything yet) provide some written evidence of their employment at GA&U in the 1970's. They're also still in touch with 'several' old employees at GA&U, and are going to sound them out about some of the exact details regarding how many of these were given out etc. Sounds good enough.

As for the signature itself; I asked a few people for advice before bidding. I have a copy of that letter Christopher wrote to Carl Hostetter (that went with CoH's he distributed). In it he asks what kind of signature Carl wants on the stickers. One very like this, that he writes as an example, is described as 'my name written' i.e. not his signature proper (which he also gives for Carl to choose between). This (altho' thirty years ago) looks like a good example of this. Not a signature in the current CoH mould, just his full name basically.

I'll have a good look once I have the book in front of me. I thought £92 was a far better price than that US Silmarillion that went to David Miller (again) for £355. There was a US BoLTs I almost identical to this (except inscribed to 'John') on ABE for a good few years for $225. I didn't fancy either because they were personalised. However they are both good examples of a more ornate 'written name' (with the stylised 'T' curling underneath); but still not his signature proper. Possibly even firmer provenance tho'...

BH

Posted on: 2008/12/14 8:25

_________________You drive a hard bargain – you can have it for £10 all-in – one consolation (for you) is that you do not have to hear the cries of my children, for bread...

I have a picture of some letters from C.S. Lewis, J.R.R.Tolkien and Chistopher Tolkien that was sold by Lucius Books a while ago. It shows the bottom of Christopher's letter with the signature very similar to your Sil.

The quality is not all that good, but you can see the signature reasonably well. I tried uploading the picture here, but it didn't come up all that well (probably due to my poor understanding of uploading images).

I can also provide a pic of my Sil. I is also a UK Sil with the same signature. Mine did not come with any provenance when I bought it. I came form an Oxfam Shop and I took a bit of a risk when I picked it up, but I guess it paid off in the end.